Strangers Like Me
by xXBalorBabeXx
Summary: The world was right at his feet before his life was cut short. Can she and her family live up to a promise she made him? (Co-written with GirlGoneGamer)
1. Deadly Consequences

Carly had a feeling something wasn't right as she walked outside into the Rockford Hills Academy parking lot and a familiar black and white Imponte Phoenix caught her attention, Brayden flashing a smile at her from the driver's side.

"Hey, Tiny. Hop on in." Brayden responded.

"You okay? You kind of ran out of Science class in a hurry." Carly replied.

"Need to get away from my pregnant girlfriend. Come on, I'm not gonna hurt you. I tutor you and your sister for a part of my upperclassmen program." Brayden explained.

Carly got into the passenger side and buckled up after closing the door, Brayden driving off and Somebody Up There Loves Me by David Bowie playing on KDST.

"Station's different without Tommy 'The Nightmare' Smith on it." Carly replied.

"Yeah, which is alright. Carly, I didn't want you to get bullied by her cause she pregnant, she cares too much about herself and our son and I can't believe that she wanted me to leave her alone. Probably one of her mood swings again, but I'm doing it to let her calm down." Brayden explained, holding on to the steering wheel and keeping his eyes on the road.

"I tried to help calm Rita down earlier… she went off yelling that someday, I'm gonna end up in over my head with no way out." Carly admitted.

"I'm just hoping that when mine and Rita's son is here, I can let you and Blake see him. Somehow, Rita won't let anyone near our baby cause she doesn't like strange, weird and tiny people. Which is not you and your sister in my book. You two are the greatest." Brayden said.

Carly smiled at the last part and started to relax as the drive continued and the two reached the Sandy Shores area, driving through it and Paleto Bay without incident.

But then they were in Angel Pine before they knew it… and it was as Carly and Brayden were singing along to _Hold The Line_ by Toto that Carly reached for Brayden's phone when it rang… and then it happened.

Before either could blink, the ZR-350 crashed into them and sent the car spiralling out of control, eventually colliding with a utility post.

Brayden coughed up blood as he opened his eyes and turned to see Carly unconscious, bruised and bleeding… he gripped his phone with what little strength he had and dialed it.

"911, what's your emergency?" The dispatcher responded.

"H… Help… ambulance…" Brayden struggle to say before he dropped his phone and his body finally gave up on strength.

A few hours later, Carly woke up in the hospital bed as Johnny, Blake and Michael were next to her, Carly's right ankle in a brace because it was badly sprained and her head stitched up.

She looked around… and then back at them, tears trailing down her face as Blake pulled Carly into her arms and Carly cried.

"He's gone, Carly… our protection from that bitch!" Blake cried.

Michael hugged his daughters, knowing that they were heartbroken at losing their friend.

And as Johnny held her, Carly thought back to one memory she would always keep with her…

 _ **Five months earlier…**_

 _Carly was outside with a beer in one hand before she heard the sliding glass door open and slam shut and saw Brayden._

 _"Fighting?" Carly asked as Brayden sat down._

 _"Hell yeah, and this time it was over fuckin' baby names." Brayden answered. "I told her that if we have a boy, I want to name him. But now, she wants to name our child for now on. It's my child too, I have every right to be involved." He explained._

 _"First time around is nerve wracking from what my dad said before my sister was born… my parents weren't much older than you and Rita." Carly responded, Brayden smiling slightly._

 _"Guess we're turning into them, but a younger age." Brayden stated. "I know she's pregnant but somehow… I have this funny feeling that she'll be a horrible mother at some point. Like abandoning him or her or not sure when to feed the kid." He explained._

 _"Brayden, she might change, she'll have to… but I know you'll be a great father. The second you hold the little baby, you'll never want to let him go. Someone so innocent and precious, you'll be thinking 'How can I ever let you go? You're my whole world and you have my heart in your hands, I'll never let you down.'..." Carly said with a slight sniffle. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to get all sappy." She replied as Brayden stood up and then sat back down but next to her._

 _"Hey, being sappy is alright. Not like what Rita has, and to let you know. If she decides to let me name our son, if we do have one. I want to name him… Bobby. I don't know how I thought of that name, but it's stuck on_

 _to me." Brayden explained._

 _"I like that name… what about if it's a girl?" Carly replied._

 _"Well the second the name Victoria Jade left my mouth, Rita looked at me like I was crazy." Brayden responded before both chuckled._

 _"Combining my sister's middle name with mine…" Carly said as Brayden rested his left hand on her right shoulder._

 _"Yeah, as a good memory of my favorite people who I tutor with." Brayden stated…_

 **Present time…**

Carly snuck out of the room and down to the morgue, pulling the sheet back… she had to see him.

"I… today started out with both of us alive, the world at our feet. You were so excited about being a dad, Brayden… this isn't fair to your son…" Carly whispered as she absentmindedly ran her fingers through Brayden's light brown hair. "I'm so sorry, Brayden." She said as tears fell again and she kissed him on his forehead.

Carly pulled the sheet over him and turned, leaving.

She'd do one last thing for her friend and make sure that his son knew who he was.


	2. Little Miracle

It had been almost two months since Brayden's death and Carly was walking around the school as she started to wonder where was Rita at the moment. But somehow, she remembered that it was getting close to the due date and hoped that Rita wouldn't be back to the same ol bully she was before but now a young mother.

Carly stopped by her locker to try to calm her nerves, having not slept much since the accident… and then she saw two of Rita's friends nearby, Hayden and Selene.

"So nothing from her?" Selene responded, the raven haired girls having looked for Rita.

"No… but there's one person who hasn't said much about the crash and you know damn well who it is." Hayden explained.

Suddenly, Carly's phone vibrate as she looked to see that Blake was calling her, since her sister was avoiding school at some point, before she answering it.

"Blake, hey." Carly said quietly as she absentmindedly readjusted things in her locker.

"Carly, can you meet me somewhere? I'm in my car in an alleyway up in Vinewood Hills, you wouldn't before this… hey, it's alright." Blake explained, before Carly heard crying in the background.

Carly abruptly hung up and left, brushing past Ethan and bolting to her Coquette before she got in and drove off.

 _'The crying… no, Rita's not due for another week! But… it's gotta be…'_ Carly thought before she reached the alleyway and got out.

Wrapped in a blanket was what Carly guessed to be a three week old newborn with blue eyes like every baby before they changed color and light brown hair… but Carly could definitely see that the baby had Brayden's facial features.

"Want to hold him?" Blake asked, Carly nodding before the baby was placed into her arms.

"He's so beautiful…" Carly whispered as tears streamed down her face.

"Yeah and guess what? That's Rita's and Brayden's kid. Little buddy still has his hospital bands on him but he's about three weeks old... I think there might've been something that went wrong." Blake explained show one of them on the baby's wrist saying _'Baby Neathery'_.

"Hey, little man… welcome to this world, Bobby." Carly replied as she kissed the child's head.

"Bobby?" Blake said confused.

"Brayden told me that it's what he wanted to name him… and I think we should get this little guy checked out to make sure he's okay." Carly explained before they headed to Mount Zonah.

Bobby was in a warming cubicle in the NICU and his tiny hand latching onto Carly's finger as Blake talked to Olivia.

"As far as I know, Rita checked herself out and left… that little baby deserves better." Olivia responded.

"He does… I haven't asked Carly or my dad, but is there a possible way that we can adopt him?" Blake questioned, before looking back at Carly and Bobby.

"I think there might be… he's clearly bonded with both of you." Olivia replied before her pager went off and she saw it. "Gotta go, I'll be back." She said before leaving.

When she reached the ER, she pulled the curtain back and saw who was in the trauma room.

"Damn, what happened?!" Olivia asked after seeing that Ethan had dislocated his right shoulder as well as his head was busted open and he was guarding his right hand.

"Got jumped…" Ethan responded.

"Chloe?" Olivia asked after putting Ethan's shoulder back in the socket.

"No... she had lighter hair than Chloe." Ethan answered, Olivia's eyes widening in shock.

"You think she's looking for her son?" Olivia asked, Ethan looking at her.

"She had the baby? But she wasn't due for another week… and she's gotta still be weakened." Ethan responded.

Back in the NICU, Carly was making silly faces at Bobby and making him laugh.

"Do you think Rita will return for Bobby?" Blake questioned her sister, before pulling out her iFruit phone and taking a picture of them.

"If she regrets leaving him there… what do you intend to do with that photo?" Carly replied as she set the empty bottle aside and placed Bobby on her shoulder before patting him on his back, Bobby letting out a loud burp.

"I'm just taking a picture that's all. Is that what adoptive families do? Memories with little ones are meant to be cherished." Blake responded, letting out the surprise.

Bobby babbled as he rested his head on Carly's shoulder, Blake and Carly smiling.

"He's gonna have the best life anyone can…" Carly whispered.

"Can't wait to see look on Dad's and everyone's faces when they know that Bobby is our family now… wait, he needs a middle name and a last name. We forgot about that." Blake explained.

"I think Robert as a first name… his middle name… well, I've always wanted to name a child after Dad, so Robert Michael… but should he keep his last name?" Carly responded.

"I would. Most people have different last names, from their sisters and brothers." Blake explained. "Or he can be De Santa, so Rita wouldn't have the chance to find him."

"Robert Michael De Santa…" Carly said, letting it sink in.

Once at home after getting what Bobby would need, the girls were thankful it was quiet before they got into the house… and Michael looked up.

"Blake, why do you have an unbuilt crib?" Michael asked.

"Uh… here's the truth… I had the quickest pregnancy under a whole day, didn't know I was pregnant." Blake lied while showing a smile, as Michael can tell she was lying.

"Let me at least help you with the crib." Michael responded, helping Blake take it upstairs and making Carly jump slightly.

"Dad…" Carly replied, Michael's eyes widening when he saw Bobby in her arms.

"Surprise, it's a baby boy!" Blake said embarrassed. "And your grandson."

"Girls, what happened? Wait… is that…" Michael responded.

"Rita and Brayden's little boy… she left him there in an alleyway." Carly explained, Michael and Blake leaning the box against the wall and walking over… Bobby's eyes opened and he wrapped his tiny hand around Michael's finger, Michael smiling.

"Hey, kiddo…" Michael whispered.

"And we're keeping him. He'll be our responsibility, Dad." Blake explained.

"I'll help in any way I can… let's get this crib built first." Michael responded.

The next day, Carly had finished feeding Bobby before she heard a knock at the door and walked over to it with Bobby in her arms… she opened it to see Johnny as well as Max and Lunch, who was in a rare sober moment.

"Oh my God! You had a baby?! But… you didn't look pregnant the other day at school." Lunch said.

"Lunch, that's Brayden's child!" Max responded, Lunch turning to Carly in shock.

"Where did you find the little one?" Lunch questioned.

"In Vinewood… come on in." Carly answered before they walked into the living room and Carly covered Bobby's ears as they heard Michael yell out in pain upstairs.

"Ow! Damn it, it's just a changing table, it shouldn't be this hard to put together!" Michael shouted, holding a towel to his bleeding right hand.

"Does Mr. DS need some help? Or twenty years of parenting come back to bite him?" Lunch responded, Bobby babbling at her.

At the beach later with Bobby, Carly had changed his diaper in the restroom before taking him back outside into the fresh air… and the newborn babbled when he and Carly heard someone yelling.

Carly's violet eyes widened when a pair of brown eyes looked at her… he still had the same tattoos but also had more scars.

"Trevor?" Carly managed to respond after Trevor walked over and saw Bobby in Carly's arms, Bobby clinging onto Carly and whimpering slightly. "It's okay, little man…" She whispered, lightly stroking Bobby's light brown hair as Trevor's shock faded to anger.

"What the fuck is that?! Is that your little bastard, Carly?!" Trevor retorted.

Carly reared her left fist back after Bobby closed his eyes and punched Trevor right in the nose, Trevor reeling back in pain and cursing.

"Don't you ever call him that!" Carly responded angrily, holding Bobby closer to her and calming his cries as Carter reached the three of them.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Carter questioned, before noticing Bobby. "Hey, little guy…" He greeted softly.

Bobby babbled at him, Carter turning to Trevor as Trevor reset his nose.

"That was out of line, even for you!" Carter responded as Carly kept Bobby calm.

"I'm out of line?! She's barely into her teen years and has a kid!" Trevor replied angrily.

"So what? Mike and I aren't the only one who had kids. How many of your demon seeds went around the whole Los Santos county?" Carter said with his arms crossed.

Carly and Bobby looked at each other, Bobby laughing slightly and clapping his hands together.

"Don't talk like Great Uncle Carter until you're older, Robert, okay?" Carly responded, Bobby babbling when she kissed him on his forehead.


End file.
